I wrote here a while ago about food miles – see under Transportation of Food. I looked at two arguments: that the long distances we transport food has a discernible impact on the production of greenhouse gases – and that it doesn’t. From what I’ve been reading over the past couple of years, the weight of evidence seems to be tipping in favor of the latter argument.
Airbus, the airplane manufacturing giant, in partnership with National Geographic Magazine, has published an interesting supplement: Lift. This details the many important contributions that the airline industry is making. (I also wrote a story on Sustainability at the Airports for the American Planning Association a couple of years ago. It turns out there’s quite a lot going on.)
In Lift, there is a compelling article about how air freight is significantly enabling developing world farmers to get their products to market, improve their livelihoods, and at a minimal cost to the environment – perhaps even at a net gain. From Field to Fork: Reassessing the Value of Food Miles talks about how developing economies are taking full advantage of developed economy consumers’ appetite for fresh, largely organic food and flowers. One NGO executive notes: “People in Kenya have made an investment, and the consumer is now getting healthier, better grown and ecologically sound produce, with hardly any chemicals used on it.” This is now Kenya’s fastest growing economic sector. The article also notes that “…the majority of energy use in the food supply chain in developed countries is in distribution and consumption, not in transport from the place of origin.” The argument here is that the Kenyan farmers and others are generating even fewer GHGs in their production.
Here’s a graphic the “NY Times” did on the environmental footprint of orange juice. It indicates that the carbon dioxide emissions generated by transportation are a small fraction of the total generated throughout the entire life cycle of the product.
There’s a new book out from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) called Fair Miles: Recharting the food miles map that underscores this message. “…while food miles loom large in our carbon-aware times, transporting it counts for less than you might think.”
It’s always important to consider environmental impacts, something that in the United States we established in law on January 1, 1970. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires public agencies to look at this in all things. But it’s also important to look at the net benefits of any activity throughout its life cycle. That’s what these thoughtful re-examinations of the impact of food miles are doing.
